Welcome Home
by Melilot Millstone
Summary: Frodo is living in Bag-End after his parents drowned and meets Sam. The events that created the friendships in the War of the Ring.
1. Samwise

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Sam and Frodo, they are so sweet, or maybe Merry and Pippin, cause they are so cool. But unfortunately, I don't. * sobbing *

Author's Note: Hi everyone! I guess this idea has been done before (hopefully not to death), but I decided to write my own story about how Sam, Frodo, Pippin and Merry all became friends. Please read and review! I would love to hear from you.

Frodo watched the younger lad, curious. He had wanted to meet other children in Hobbiton, but it seemed almost disrespectful to his parents to have fun again. This boy came everyday to Bag-End, it seemed, and Frodo had wondered if he had any older brothers. Suddenly, the boy lost his hold on the plant he was trying to pull up and landed on his rear. Frodo laughed, and then wondered instead if this lad was nice.

Sam got back up again, rubbing his tailbone gingerly. He wasn't ready to ask the Gaffer for help yet; he could get it himself. 

"Now you listen," he said to the weed, "you can't stay at Bag-End. Now out you go!" He started pulling again, but then jumped at the voice behind him.

"Do you always speak to plants, sir?" The boy behind him was older, with dark hair and bright blue eyes. Blue eyes that were red at the edges from crying, Sam noticed. 

"What? I'm sorry, have we met?" Sam asked, blushing slightly at being caught talking to himself. 

"No, I'm Frodo Baggins. What is your name?"

"I'm Samwise Gamgee, Mr. Frodo, sir. Can I help you with anything?"

"Well, Samwisegamgeemisterfrodosir, I can't think of anything right now. I was just wondering what you were doing." Frodo said, smiling uncertainly.

Sam took a second to think about the joke before grinning too. " You can call me Sam, sir. I'm pulling up weeds. But this one is a lot of trouble." He nodded his head, as if to verify what he just said and sandy curls bounced up and down.

"And I am Frodo. I am hardly old enough to be mister or sir anything. So why not just cut it?" Frodo asked.

"It will grow back in a few days then. It's better to just get the roots out of the ground," Sam explained and Frodo was grateful that the younger hobbit didn't treat him like a fool. "I may have to get my Gaffer soon. I can't get it out on my own."

"Let's not admit defeat yet, Sam. We can probably get it out together."

After much pulling and yelling from the boys, the weed popped out of the soil and sent the two flying backwards. 

"Does this happen a lot in gardening?" Frodo asked jokingly, as he dusted himself off.

"More often than I like to admit, Mr. Frodo."

Frodo immediately liked the lad, but he hoped he'd grow out of calling him 'Mr. Frodo' soon. He looked down at his hands and winced. "Maybe we should go clean up. I'm sure you're probably scratched up worse than I am, then we can get something to drink, too." 

Sam thought for a moment, but then decided to go. His father would understand since Frodo didn't know anyone else in Hobbiton. "All right then. Do you need any help?" he asked as they stepped out of the hot sun and into the smial. 

"No, I think I've found my way around and I know Uncle Bilbo left something in the kitchen." After washing their hands and faces they sat down to eat. Each enjoying the others company and laughing as they ate. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.


	2. Sam and Rosie sitting in a tree...

Six reviews? Wow! You are all my new friends!

Disclaimer: Hi everyone! As always, LOTR isn't mine : ( and the poem "Red, Red Rose" belongs to Robert Burns, but he's kind of dead, so I don't think he'll sue.

"Sound it out, Sam."

"…melody that's sweetly played in tune," Sam read slowly, only missing a few words. Frodo had been teaching Sam to read, and the younger lad was very quick to learn. 

It had only been a few weeks since the boys had met, but they were becoming inseparable. At first, Sam had been like a distraction from the pain, but now Frodo genuinely enjoyed spending time with the younger boy. He had a quick mind, and Frodo would prove that he was smarter than people gave him credit for. 

Now, they were sitting in the sun outside Bag-End, enjoying the good weather. 

"I think I'm getting it," Sam grinned. "But what do we read after this?" 

"We could find some books on gardening, history, Elves, adventures. Anything we want." 

"There are books on gardening? Really, Mr. Frodo?" 

"Of course, Sam. There are books about flowers that grow in the Elves' woods, medical uses for plants." Frodo couldn't help but smile when he saw how excited Sam got. 

"Hello, Sam," a voice said.

Both boys looked up, surprised. "Hello, Rosie," Sam said and blushed.

"How are you?" Rosie asked, smiling.

"I'm alright. How are you Rosie?" Sam blushed even more.

"Very good. Maybe, I'll see you later today, Sam."

"Okay," Sam said, and watched her as she walked away. "Oh, I'm stupid," he said when she was gone and hid himself on the forehead. 

"She likes you. You obviously are interested in her," Frodo joked. 

"No, she wouldn't-"

"Why would she walk all that way to get to Bagshot Row? She could just go through town. She likes you," Frodo insisted and Sam only blushed again.

"I just can't talk to her. I'm not very bright and I can never figure out the right words."

"What would you say?"

Sam thought for a moment, "I'm not very good with words, maybe I would give her a poem, like this one." He pointed to the poem he was learning to read:

__

O, my love is like a red, red rose,

That's newly sprung in June,

O, my love is like the melody,

That's sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonny lass,

So deep in love am I,

And I will love thee still my dear

Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi' the sun!

And I will love thee still my, dear, 

While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee well, my only love,

And fare thee well a while!

And I will come again, my love,

Tho' it were ten thousand mile!

A few hours later, Sam headed home for dinner, while a shadow jumped over the fence to the Cotton's farm. 


	3. It's JUST Cousin Merry

Birdie, chocoholic, Rufferto, eve n. worse, Tathar, MarigoldG, EleoCira, and Obelia, I love you all! Thank you so much for the reviews and thank you, Birdie, for putting me on your favorites list!

I'm sorry I haven't written anything for a while, I've been really busy with rehearsals and memorizing a monologue to audition for a Shakespeare play at my high school (I am so stressed about that!). 

And now the feature presentation: Chapter 3 "It's _just_ Cousin Merry"

"Mr. Bilbo really says the men play this game?" Sam asked while looking at the racket skeptically.

"And many others. They call this one tennis and we are suppose to hit the ball over the net before it hits the ground."

Sam believed anything Mr. Frodo said was true, but this seemed kind of pointless to the younger hobbit. "Why?"

"For the fun of it, I suppose."

Both boys turned to Bilbo when he stepped outside with a broom and began dusting the front steps to the smial. Bilbo had been acting strange like that a lot lately. Normally, the smial had what Frodo liked to call a nice "lived in" look to it, it wasn't filthy, but they didn't go out of their way to keep it perfect, but now his uncle seemed to be doing just that. He had been dusting every time he found a spare moment and polishing furniture as well. 

"So you lads found the old tennis set," Bilbo said, with a hand in his jacket pocket, almost reminiscing. "Well, why don't you two go in and clean up and I'll get something to eat." 

The two were growing hobbit boys, so they dropped the racket and raced into the house to wash their hands. Lunch was chicken sandwiches and applesauce; it was wonderful, but Frodo couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in the spotless kitchen and was glad when they were called outside

"Frodo, Samwise! Could you come out here for a moment?" 

"Coming, Mr. Bilbo," Sam replied and then stared in shock as Frodo was suddenly tackled by another boy. "You get off him!" He snapped as he pulled the larger boy up. Sam was small, but he was strong for his size.

"Don't worry, Sam. It's just my Cousin Merry," Frodo explained while he dusted himself off.

"Oh, I'm _just_ your cousin?" Merry asked Frodo and then turned to Sam. "I'm _just _his cousin. Meriadoc Brandybuck, but everyone calls me Merry. How I got a girl's name, I don't know," he held out his hand and grinned. He was about Sam's age with light brown hair and freckles across his nose.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Merry," Sam said, shaking hands. "I'm Samwise, or Sam, Gamgee."

"I'm a mister? Mama, why didn't you tell me?" Merry asked. "Well, hello Samwiseorsamgamgee." 

Sam had recognized the joke from when he had first met Frodo and supposed it had been a rather old one that the cousins told. He would have felt slightly left out, but neither boy gave him the opportunity.

"…so then, we sneak back into Farmer Maggot's crops and he really let the dogs go. I thought it was only an empty threat." Merry said.

"And guess who they decided to chase," Frodo muttered under his breath. 

"Well, why would they chase a _sweet_, _innocent_, and _very_ attractive boy like myself?" Merry wondered aloud and grinned again. Sam was beginning to understand why people called him Merry and immediately liked the other boy almost as much as he liked Frodo. 

For the rest of the afternoon, Sam listened to Frodo and Merry's tales of Buckland and the trouble they got into there. To the young hobbit, they seemed as incredible as any of Mr. Bilbo's adventures and Merry plotted more schemes for Sam to help with. 

"Hello, Sam," Rosie said from behind them and all three lads jumped a foot in the air.

"Um, hello. How are you, Rosie?" Sam said, stuttering slightly.

"Very well, thank you. I just wanted to thank you for the flower and the lovely poem," Rosie replied and kissed Sam on the cheek before running back to her friends.

Sam stood there after she was gone, with his hand on his cheek, deciding he would never wash his face again.


	4. Heroes someday

Hi! Thanks for the reviews and I was wondering if anyone was interested in what Rosie and the other girls are doing or if you think the story should stay the way it is. Do the friendships in the story seem more like a girl's? A guy who is a friend of mine (_just_ a friend) told me once that guys normally don't have the friends that are more special than any others like girls sometimes do, so I was wondering if I was writing it right. Pippin will be here soon : ) I'm kind of nervous, I've got callbacks for a play I'm auditioning for tomorrow, so wish me luck! 

Sam carried the box of surprises for Bilbo and Frodo's party carefully as he wondered what was in them, but he had been told not to open them. The party was sure to be grand; Bilbo was turning one hundred after all. 

He fell over as something pushed into him from behind. Sam dusted himself off, shocked that the person kept walking. The boxes around him had scattered and he had heard glass breaking. "Did your parents not teach you _some _manners?" Sam called, angrily. The small hobbit hardly ever had a temper, but something as rude as that was appalling. 

The older lad turned to him and Sam realized how much larger the boy was. "What? Do you have a problem runt?"

Sam took an involuntary step back from the threatening gaze, but still replied. "Yes, you just ran into me and kept going without an apology." His stomach had dropped to the ground and he tried to look calm. Why couldn't he have kept his big mouth shut? His Gaffer always told him that anytime he opened his mouth he put his foot in it.

"Lotho," another boy from the small ring that had formed behind Sam called, "you won't let him get away with that, will you?"

"Frodo, it's been a little while, would you please see if Samwise needs any help with those boxes?" Bilbo asked, not looking up from the invitations he was writing. 

"Wait for me. I'm coming, too," Merry called as the boys raced for the door, both happy for an excuse to get outside. The two jumped along the path, slaying pretend dragons and saving imaginary worlds as they went. 

It was Frodo who heard it first, the noise from the bushes. "What's going on here? Get away from him, what's wrong with you, Lotho? Does it really take four of you to beat up one lad?" Frodo snapped. 

Lotho stood slowly and glared at his cousin and it seemed to Sam as if Lotho were Frodo's distorted mirror image. While both had a slight resemblance to the other, the dark-haired boy's face was kinder than his relative's and seemed wiser, as well.

Merry helped Sam to his feet and tried to get some of the grass out of his hair while Sam winced as he touched the new bruises. "Get out of here, all of you," Frodo said, and Lotho's friends listened. "Let's go home, Sam, Uncle Bilbo will put you back together."

Lotho had ignored Frodo's command for them to leave and called to the retreating lads, "You know, cousin, sometimes I think you are queerer," he looked directly at Merry, "and dumber," he glanced at Sam who was wiping blood away from his nose, "than both of your friends combined." 

Nobody spoke for a moment and it was Sam that broke the tense silence. "Leave my friends alone. Mr. Frodo and Merry will be heroes someday!" 

The only reply was mocking laughter. 


	5. That brute of an heir

Thanks for answering my questions, I was worried about how I was writing it since the hobbits are part what I know about them from the books, but a lot also comes from my friends who remind me of them. Thank you all for the reviews! 

"Why did they beat you up, Sam?" Merry asked as he handed him a cloth to clean the cut across his lip with. 

"Lotho said nobody speaks to him that way and I let him know that there is a first time for everything and that no one runs into Samwise Gamgee without an apology."

"Then?" Frodo asked.

"He said that I had some nerve talking back to him after taking his Rosie. I told him that Rosie was never his and his friends came up behind me." Sam explained and blushed slightly when the other boys looked at him with admiration.

"You really told him that?" Frodo had never been so proud of his friend.

In the next room Lobelia and Otho Sacksville-Baggins were arguing that the three boys had attacked her baby. "Bilbo, my son says that those three began hitting him, unprovoked. He didn't do anything to them. Have you seen his bruises? Now I understand that with Bucklanders and some of the lower class families it may be common, but us Bagginses are taught better."

Bilbo sighed and wished she would drop the Baggins. "You forget, Lobelia, that I am part Brandybuck and that Frodo, Samwise, and Meriadoc are good lads." Unlike Lotho, he added silently. "I believe them when they tell me what happened. Now if you do not mind, I am going to see how they are doing." 

When he reached the door, he could her Lobelia muttering to her husband something about "that brute of an heir he chose." He bit back a sharp reply. Frodo knew to ignore their cousins, but sometimes he still worries about the boy.

"You didn't believe them, did you?" Frodo asked uncertainly as they cleared the table after dinner.

"Of course not," Bilbo said. He sounded preoccupied and Frodo wasn't sure if Bilbo were telling the truth, even though he couldn't think of a reason his uncle would lie. "I want you boys to learn to fight," he said suddenly.

"What?" Frodo asked. "I mean, why?"

"I don't want you to end up like today. In fact, next time Lotho tries something, I want you to win." Bilbo was smiling mischievously and Frodo did too. This was the only time the lad was ever going to be allowed to fight. 

Another bonus of having an adventurous uncle, Frodo thought. "When do we start?"


	6. Arrogance and courage

Author's Note: * begs and pleads for forgiveness * I'm back…can I come back? Sorry, I spent a ton of time getting ready for finals. Geometry… * shudders and tries to hold back bad memory * Think happy Elijah thoughts, happy thoughts….

By afternoon, they were each sporting a few bruises, but were otherwise happy; Sam's brothers even came out to help teach them a few moves (including a few they had practiced on Sam when he was younger). Over lunch, the three boys had gotten into a discussion of how they would win a fight with Lotho and his friends. 

After excusing himself from the conversation, Frodo sat down next to the old hobbit. "Uncle Bilbo, can I ask you a question?"

"Go on ahead."

"Why- Why do people," Frodo began, watching the smoke rings his uncle was making. "Why do people like other people who are mean and arrogant?"

Bilbo looked out thoughtfully for a moment. "Sometimes, the fools of this world mistake that arrogance and cruelty for strength and courage and they run to it." He glanced over to see if Frodo understood before he continued, "But they aren't as happy as one would think, either. In the end, the fools will all desert them. You are much better off than Lotho. You have the friends who will stand by you. Take care of them, Frodo."

Frodo nodded slightly to show he understood. How was it Bilbo could know so much?


	7. Babysitting Peregrin

Author's Note: Yay! Baby Pippin is finally here! Unfortunately, my story of his nickname can in no way compare with Goldenwolf's, but here goes. 

By September nineteenth, family was coming from all over the Shire for Frodo and Bilbo's birthday. The Green Dragon was packed and Tooks were moving into Bag-End. 

"Meriadoc."

Merry looked up slowly at his cousin Pervinca. "What did you use my full name for?"

"I need you and your friends to do something for me: baby-sit Peregrin."

Frodo and Sam glanced at one another; baby-sit _that_ terror? 

Merry thought it over, "What's in it for us?"

"Please be quiet," Frodo begged the baby. "Please stop crying. Want to see a funny face?" He stopped when Peregrin spit up on him and Frodo cursed. "Merry! You take him!" He gave the baby to his cousin and ran to change his shirt.

"You know you're supposed to hold a towel over your shoulder when you hold a baby," Sam mentioned and took Peregrin from Merry.

Frodo went into his room and changed his shirt. He held the foul shirt away from him and dropped it the sink. "Uh, Frodo….A little problem!"

Sam and Merry were staring at the baby in horror. "_That_ is his first word! Of all words, _that_ one?" 

"What did he say?" Frodo asked. Sam whispered something into his ear and Frodo paled. "Lor', what are we going to do?"

"We'll just teach him a new word!" Merry suggested, desperately. 

"Right," Sam agreed. "Um, will your aunt and uncle kill us?"

"All three of us," Frodo said.

"Right. Hello…Momma…Frodo." Merry started saying random words, trying to get Peregrin to repeat them.

"I think we need smaller words," Frodo said.

"Well, that wasn't a small word, was it?" Frodo and Merry both began to panic.

Sam tried to keep calm and hoped the baby wouldn't learn any other words from the arguing cousins. "Pop. Pop. Pop," he said and played with the baby. "Please say it, Peregrin: Pop. C'mon Peregrin."

"Pip….nnnn….pip." 


End file.
